Oct 8, 2007

Taube-Koret Campus work starts

Officials break ground on Jewish Life center

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

With $13 million still to raise, officials behind the Taube-Koret Campus for Jewish Life broke ground Sunday at the 8.5-acre project site.

Attended by roughly 250 people, the ceremony marked the latest milestone in the ambitious plan to develop several large facilities on the corner of East Charleston and San Antonio roads, including a 193-unit senior home, a fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools, and a 400-seat theater.

The funding for the $300 million project will come from two sources: a $160 million bond and $140 million in private donations. The project has received $127 million in donations already, said Project Manager Alan Sataloff. He added that everything is on course for a Fall 2009 opening.

"We're very excited," Sataloff said. "It feels fantastic."

Sataloff, who took over the project three years ago, said the campus will be the largest in the Bay Area and the most expensive Jewish community center in the country. He also stressed that the facilities will be open to people of all religions and ethnicities.

"That's very important to note," he said.

The two largest donations - $10 million each - came from the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture and the Koret Foundation funds. The collaborative project is also being funded and developed by the Jewish Home of San Francisco, Palo Alto's Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco.

Integrating young and old is the main philosophy of the campus, said Daniel Ruth, CEO of Jewish Home, the organization behind the senior facility. Children can frolic in the community center while families are visiting grandparents, for example, he said.

He has already signed up 105 people, ages 62 and older, for the home, which will have 158 market-rate units, 24 below-market-rate units and 11 rentals designed specifically for tenants with mental illnesses, such as Alzheimer's. The 310,000-square-foot home will offer independent and assisted living. The community center is expected to be 145,000 square feet.

The collaborative effort started almost eight years ago when the South Peninsula Jewish Community Center was forced to leave its home at what is now Terman Middle School. A coalition of Jewish organizations later bought the site, which was subdivided for private homes in one area, from Sun Microsystems. The city of Palo Alto held 18 public hearings over a 2 1/2-year period for the project.

"Everything is on schedule," said Mimi Sells, the center's director of marketing and communications.



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.